Man, 2017, y’all. We realize that it’s kind of our m.o. to be proponents of the whole “Golden Age of Metal” narrative and be incredibly positive about the consistently great level of stuff that is being put out from pretty much every part of the musical spectrum, but it’s such an easy thing to do when we are so constantly bombarded with new material that utterly consumes our attention. Even in months where one of us might not have as many new albums that really impressed them, without doubt there will be another one who could barely keep up because of all the superb releases from genres they pay close attention to. This April has certainly been no different in that regard, and we have a whole slew of top-notch albums to recommend to you all.

This week we talk mainly about Woe’s show in Hamburg being cancelled due to them sharing a stage with Inquisition, who organizers think is NSBM. That’s a cool discussion, but for those of you who just want the news, I guess we have some stuff along those lines as well. New music and stuff from Exist, Suffocation, Dragonforce, Shadow of Intent, Jamiroquai, Artificial Brain, Tombs, Bestia Arcana. Also the mini-feud between ESP guitars and Linkin Park, and hologram Ronnie James Dio being a thing. Also the new Sikth album. Then cool people time on a bunch of TV and movie stuff. Prison Break, Ryan Reynolds, Cillian Murphy and more.

Welcome to episode 95 of Heavy Pod Is Heavy Cast! And by 95 we mean 75. This week we talks about some new music, and Eden gets really upset about how much people like the new Mastodon. Ok, I’m being unfair – we have a level headed discussion about how great it is. Or maybe I’m just lying. I guess you can listen and find out! In other news, Papa Emeritus of Ghost is facing legal allegations that he isn’t paying band members, Spotify have introduced a paywall, and the following artists have new music/videos: Sikth, A Sense of Gravity, Russian Circles, Shadow of Intent, Power Trip, Vildhjarta, Prisoner, Scale The Summit. Also, Asira are an amazing new band that you have to check out. Then we do the usual cool people stuff, discussing (with spoilers) Grant Morrison’s comic Nameless and Ada Palmer’s Too Like The Lightning. Enjoy! Also, if you want Eden to get extra salty, let him know in the comments that you think Emperor of Sand is great. Of course, you could tell me I’m wrong and get me salty as well! YOU HAVE SO MUCH POWER IN YOUR HANDS.

There was a period between 2006 and 2009 where the deathcore scene was exploding as progressive elements started to get introduced into the sound. The genesis of the sound of many bands that are loved today was in that scene – be it The Faceless, After the Burial, Born of Osiris, Within the Ruins, Between the Buried and Me, The Contortionist – the list goes on. Now, in 2016, things are different. Enter Shadow of Intent, a progressive/technical deathcore duo. Their take on the sound manages to be fresh way past the prime of the genre, and hearkens back to the feeling of finding a new band on a random blog doing interesting things, a band that is on the verge of greatness.

Welcome to our new monthly post, Editors’ Picks! In the recent two years, our editorial body has grown quite a bit: from basically two guys running everything, we now have around seven people managing the blog in an editorial capacity, including two (count ’em, two!) Editors in Chief. We thought we’d harness that unique body of editors and use their over-reaching perspective to shed light on specific releases each month. The way it works is simple: each editor gets to pick one album released in January (or in its proximity, as we just said). We write short pieces about them and link you to the album, allowing you to check it out yourselves. There’s no genre restrictions: expect to see some gnarly stuff on here as most of our editors have a very wide range of musical appreciation. Without further ado, let’s dig in into this month’s offering!

Welcome back to HPIHC! This week we get pretty real. We cover new music from Norway’s folk extravaganza Skuggsja, the symphonic tech death ridiculousness that is Shadow of Intent, and the new Ulver album plus discussions around politics in music, the great Pain of Salvation and a core definition for progressive metal.